Bloodied Messenger
by PlayISDF
Summary: A secret underground community lays hidden under Konoha, a place of dark dealings and dark secrets. The Bloodied Messenger is a for hire assassin, one of the greatest. How will his actions affect Naruto, the rest of the ninja, and Konoha as a whole?
1. 1: A Messenger's Life

_**A Messenger's Life**_

A lighting fast sword movement. Slicing of flesh. Blood pours out onto the cold hard ground. The moon sat high in the sky, surrounded by the stars. A shadow stood above the man.

"Please, let me live! I-I didn't do anything wrong! I sw-wear!" the man struggled to say, his blood pouring out of his throat. "I-I don't wanna die!" he screamed out as his hand clutched at him, trying to slow the bleeding.

The shadow simply glared with hate filled vision before bringing his sword up, and then down again, ending the man's life.

"Then you should have never crossed me, The Bloodied Messenger does not forgive." The shadow stood there, before disappearing into the shadows.

* * *

It was a quiet day in Konoha, the sun was out, people were dealing with their day to day lives, and everything for the most part was fine. Naruto sat up in a tree near the outskirts of the village with his eyes closed. He was wearing his typical orange clothing and his new headband was firmly on his head. He had just become a genin, and had passed Kakashi's bell test with ease. He was quite aware from the start of the test that it was nothing more then a test to see if Team 7 could work together, but he acted like he always would. The hyperactive knuckle-head ninja was a good cover for the time being, and in a way, it was kind of... relaxing.

Irritatingly though, now that he was a genin, it meant doing the insulting D-rank missions. Such missions were below him, as were his two other squad members. Sakura was nothing but an empty headed, idiot, fan girl, while Sasuke was little more than a self absorbed ass who thought the world revolved around his quest to kill Itachi. Kakashi was a decent ninja and Naruto respected his skill, but he had come to rely on his Sharingan whenever things got tough. This reliance was slowly killing his ability to adapt to new situations and change strategies. He wasn't too bad but the other two though were nothing but pests to the likes of him but he was forced to deal with them anyway. Luckily, the Shadow Clone Jutsu (Kage Bunshin no Jutsu) allowed him to chill out for today while the clone dealt with his squad as well as the farm work they had gotten assigned to for today. Naruto however was lost in thought. Ever since that day...

Suddenly, a trio of young teenagers approached. It was Team 8 who seemed to be out for a walk. Naruto ignored them, he had nothing to say to them, especially since Kiba pissed him off with his self centered attitude, one similar to Sasuke.

"Hey loser, aren't you meant to be out on a mission?" Kiba asked, a smile on his face.

Naruto just ignored him, he was used to his pathetic attempts to goad him into fighting back.

"Awwww poor little baby, sulking like a little baby! Did you get kicked out of Team 7 already? That was fast!"

"Naruto, please don't let Kiba bother you on a sunny day like this," Hinata said with her quiet little voice.

Naruto slowly opened an eye upon hearing this and looked at her intently.

"Don't stay in the sun too long Naruto, we wouldn't want you to get a bad skin tan from it," Shino said as calmly as ever.

Naruto's eye moved to Shino for a second, and then he closed his eye again.

"Naruto is just no fun today, come on guys, lets go," Kiba said, and then chuckled. "Later loser!"

Naruto just ignored it as they walked off. "_So... tonight I'm heading out again,_" Naruto thought, and decided that it was probably best to go get some food now and then go have a nap, for the coming night would probably take away any time he had to sleep.

Heading off towards Ichiraku's Ramen Shop, he saw Kiba looking back at him with a sneer. But Naruto ignored it as he headed to the shop.

* * *

Night had fallen upon Konoha as a figure raced stealthily through the city to an old storehouse near the edge of the village.

The figure was not a typical looking person for Konoha. The figure wore loose black pants and a loose black shirt. Bits of dark red arced all over the clothing in strange patterns while the figure wore a blood red mask with two big black eyes on it where the eye slits were. Gloves were warn, both a dark red with silver spikes where the knuckles lay and holes for the fingers and on the back of the hand. Black and red sandals were worn as well.

On the figure's back rested three swords. The one in the middle was an elongated black blade with weird spiral engravings in the blade with a hilt that seemed to have one end sticking up along side the blade while the other end went down along with the grip. Both seemed to have tri-pronged points and some weird engravings on them. The grip seemed to have something like bandages wrapped around it as the end of it lazily flew around in the breeze. The left sword looked something like a big butchers knife. The blade itself was dark blue with a hint of red curving through the blade that connected to black hilt. The final blade on the right seemed around about the same size as the butchers knife but instead was much like a dagger. It was completely black save for dark blue wrapped around the strange blade. It had what appeared to be a number of wires coming from the top of the hilt that sat very close to the blade itself and joined at the very end of the blade at the point.

Heading inside the storehouse, he stood in a little depression in the floor and began to channel chakra downwards. As the chakra seeped through the floor, the hidden reverse summoning seal activated and he appeared in a dark hall. The walls were made of rock with only a few torches around on them. Various people sat around tables that were barely visible in the mostly dark hall, but it didn't bother him even slightly. He was used to it, this place was almost a second home. He began walking towards the door labeled "SA-4". Channeling his chakra into it, another hidden seal unlocked the door as he stepped inside. When the door closed, a genjutsu surrounded the room that prevented anybody from listening or seeing what was going on. As he stood there, a man was sitting in a chair at the far end of the room. He approached slowly as the man turned around and looked at him intently.

"Well, if it isn't the Bloodied Messenger, you certainly took your time getting here," the man said calmly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," the figure dubbed 'Bloodied Messenger' answered, sounding almost bored.

"You certainly look more intimating in person. Here you are all covered in black and red with hardly any skin showing, hell if I didn't know better I'd think you were from hell itself!" the man said, chuckling at the sight knowing that this figure was here for only one reason. Bloodied Messenger didn't even so much as move, as he waited for the man to get to the point.

"Straight to business eh? I can work with that." The man moved to pull out something from his coat and pulled out a photo of a man.

"This man is the head of the local Hyiigar clan, the clan of ninja that could no longer stand being a branch family to the Hyuuga and secretly developed a way to counter the unofficially named 'Caged Bird Seal' from being put on any member over the age of three. Although it's mostly due to a bizarre DNA mutation from the founders of the clan that is passed on. Unfortunately although a bonus for them, they lose Byakugan." The man sighed, and took a few breaths before continuing.

"The clan has recently become a little too bothersome for the majority of the village as they are trying to gain more power and are stepping on a lot of toes while doing so. They are restricting business and pushing people around far too much. Now it's time they were taught a lesson, and the head of the beast cut off the pathetic spin off clan. This is your target, Mozok Hyiigar. Make it look natural, but leave a calling card to the Hyiigar. After he dies, place a Caged Bird Seal on his head. Although it is meant to seal away Byakugan on someone when they die, you can still put the seal on a corpse, and I know you are aware of how to perform the seal. If you see any guards or anyone else of some importance in the clan, feel free to take them out as well but make sure to dispose of them."

Bloodied Messenger took a good look at the picture and took in all the information, and then spoke in a rather unemotional voice. "130,000". The man paled a little, this was more then he expected.

"How about 115,000?" If he could bring the price down even a bit, it would be worth it.

"Push me if you wish, but this is your first and final warning, if you try and bargain with me anymore, my price will go up." The man sat there for a few seconds, debating his options. Finally, he sighed in defeat, this was too important to mess around with.

"Alright, agreed," he spoke.

"The deed will be completed before sunrise," replied Bloodied Messenger before leaving the room.

Sighing after he left, Bloodied Messenger walked back to the depression in the floor where he first appeared and once again sent chakra into the ground below him. Tonight was going to be a boring night, but at least it wasn't going to take long.

* * *

As the figure approached the compound, a few guards stood outside the entrance. Although they were less than needed now since they had lost the Byakugan, the foolish leaders still felt like they needed themselves watched. "_Self important filth,_" thought Bloodied Messenger as he threw some senbon from up his sleeves at them, all hitting each of the guard's hearts. As they fell to the ground, now no longer moving, he walked up to them. "Fire Style: Running Fire (Katon: Hibashiri)." he spoke quietly as a small fire formed in front of him before it raced to the bodies, consuming the remains and leaving nothing left.

Jumping over the wall and heading towards Mozok's main quarters, he began to pull out another senbon, just in case anybody else saw him. Thankfully nobody was seen and Bloodied Messenger continued to Mozok's quarters. Upon reaching the doors, he slowly parted them and took a peak inside. He was sleeping soundly. "_This really is too easy,_" he thought as he approached him... only to have him jump out of bed and take a stance rather similar to Gentle Fist. Although they could no longer use Byakugan, the Hyiigar had learned to use Gentle Fist to fill their target with chakra that disrupted bits of the body temporarily by attacking the muscles and bones themselves. Although they couldn't seal chakra points since they couldn't see them anymore, their Gentle Fist style was still dangerous to enemies.

As Mozok charged, a senbon went flying towards his throat. Mozok dodged it and then hit the intruder, or so he thought. As the figure disappeared into smoke, Mozok felt a senbon enter his heart from behind. "You really are nothing but a useless clan if you can't even see through such a simple move," the intruder said coldly.

"The... Hyiigar... we'll get the... place... we deserve!" Mozok struggled to say before his body went limp.

Healing the wound he had left as so nobody would be able to tell how he died, Bloodied Messenger laid him back onto his bed and performed the Caged Bird seal. Mozok's head began to glow an intense green and a shape took form on the forehead. After it was completed, he left the same way he had came, through the front door as he began heading back to his employer.

* * *

The man paid him and Bloodied Messenger doubled checked it to make sure it was all real. After confirming it was, he turned to leave when the man spoke.

"That was a marvelous job my dear Bloodied Messenger, but I have a question. Why are you called that?"

The figure paused for a second, and stood still before answering.

"I'm the messenger for the devil himself. I end lives and I am blood soaked. Those that cross me die, the innocent who know me live and fear me while the guilty who see my shadow cower and die." He turned ever so slightly back to the man. "Haven't you heard? I've got the devil within me and I'm his Bloodied Messenger."

* * *

**A/N: **_Yep. My Naru fanfic I've been touching off and on. Here is the first chapter! I was originally going to leave this and not upload it till I had a fair few chapters, and probably worked on it a bit more (not 100% happy with the Naruto bit but anyway), but I decided I'd just upload it and see what everyone's reactions are instead. I'm really curious if people will like this, so people, leave reviews and tell me!...please if you don't mind anyway = ). If people want more of this, I'll aim to cater, if not, then it won't get a whole lot of attention and I'll focus on other things. Regardless, updating will probably be sporatic anyway along with everything else I'm attached to at the moment. I've got school and other real life stuff taking A LOT of my attention currently, but I'll try and update if I can help it. Also, with jutsu, as you can see I'm using the dub version for jutsu but sticking the sub version after it in brackets for those who prefer it. The reason for this is because chances are I'll create my own jutsu later on, and it's going to be easier having the dub version as the main for me. With that said, any jutsu that the dub hasn't covered yet (such as the jutsu used in this chapter), I will use for the most part the sub translation and just make the changes needed to it such as changing Fuuton to Wind Style. Obviously I wouldn't change Rasen-Shuriken to Spiraling Shuriken though but you get the idea. If you got complaints with that, then sorry, all I can say is deal with it unless you've got a good alternative. Oh and I spose I better do the "right" thing and stick a disclaimer in. I don't own Naruto, yeah, I'd love to but you know, so would a lot of other people. _


	2. 2: A Demon's Mask

_**A Demon's Mask**_

He stood there, viewing the landscape before him. The area was nothing like the lush green environment it once was. Now it was nothing but a charred wasteland and the impudent villager was nowhere to be seen.

"Did...did I cause this?" the young boy asked himself, standing in the middle of the hellish location.

"Am I...am I really what they called me?" Tears formed in his eyes.

"Am I really...a demon?" The tears rolled down his cheeks as he stood there, all alone, crying.

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha, bored to a great extent. Like yesterday, his clone was taking care of the boring D-rank missions for the day along with the rest of Team 7 while he did sweet stuff all. He had considered getting some training in but at the moment, he just didn't feel like it. Instead, he was simply going for a walk, doing a little bit of window shopping at a few of the various weapon shops around. Nothing particularly caught his interest though. There was nothing that really suited his tastes. He already had what he required. The only thing that caught his attention was the typical glares he'd get from the stupid villagers, but that was nothing unusual. Deciding that getting something to eat was better than wandering around aimlessly, the blonde head around a corner that led to Ichiraku's when Naruto noticed a bunch of ANBU jumping between rooftops over his head. Curious as to what was going on, he headed up and followed them while doing what ninja do best, staying hidden.

As he landed on a nearby rooftop he saw that a compound had been blocked off to the general public. His eyes glanced to the letters sitting up on the wall near the entrance. It read 'Hyiigar Compound: No unauthorized guests allowed!' He could see a number of ANBU and a few high ranking shinobi surrounding the area, looking around. The Hokage himself was there as well, talking to a few of the Hyiigar, when a deceased man was brought out. The body had odd markings placed upon the head. However, Naruto had trouble making them out as the two men holding the stretcher with the deceased man on it sat in the shadows of the compound. He glanced back to the Hokage and took a good look at his face. He seemed completely furious, but at the same time, sad.

"Naruto, what are you doing here!?" a voice yelled out from behind the blonde suddenly, startling him. As he turned around, he saw one of the ANBU standing before him. This one had a spiral mark on the left arm, was of a slim build, had short dark red hair and wore a cat mask. Before he could take in more of the details or reply to the question, the ANBU slammed Naruto down into the tiled rooftop, cracking a few tiles in the process.

"You have been warned multiple times Naruto! You are not to interfere with village business! That means ANBU related operations as well. Your lucky you are allowed as much freedom as you currently have, if it was up to me I would have you locked up with Ibiki to take care of you," the ANBU coldly said, his words dripping with hate for the boy when a kunai appeared at the ANBU's throat.

"And I have told you multiple times before, you are to not harm Naruto or bring in your own feelings and opinions about the boy into your interactions with him. I shall not tell you again, am I clear!?" As the boy looked up, he saw a man wearing white and red robes standing next to the cat masked ANBU.

"Old... man? Is that you?" Naruto asked weakly. His head was hurting from hitting the tiles, his vision was all blurry, and there seemed to be a warm liquid slowly pooling below the boy. The man turned to the boy and smiled at him, a warm and nice smile.

"Yes, it's me Naruto. Don't worry, we'll get you looked at in a minute," the man replied with genuine warmth before turning back to the cat masked ANBU.

"Now, am I clear about Naruto?" he asked again, the warmth now replaced by an icy cold tone.

"Yes, Third Hokage," the ANBU replied, before vanishing in a puff of smoke. As Naruto was about to pick himself back up, he saw a hand in front of his face. He stared at it for a moment before grabbing it and getting pulled up by the Hokage.

"I'm sorry Naruto, you know what the ANBU are like. They can be very... strict about the rules," the old man said, saddened that even the best in the village couldn't control themselves when it came to Naruto. "Anyway, let's go get your head looked at."

"They're just like everyone else old man, and you know it. They all hate me because I'm the one who holds the Kyuubi within me," he replied, slightly annoyed. "And I'll be fine, even if they do hate me, there's no doubt that having the Kyuubi within me has it's advantages like super healing. I'll be fine in a minute or two."

"Your right Naruto, I hate to admit it, but it is the truth." The old man sighed. It may be the truth, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

"_Oh Naruto, if only you didn't find out about the fox till later in your life. Maybe then you wouldn't be as cold as you are now. You've got that happy, life's never really a problem attitude about you most of the time but you drop that with me and express how you really are. If only you didn't find out about the fox when you were so young, maybe that attitude could have been a real one, and you still could truly smile,_" the Hokage thought to himself.

"I'll see you later old man, I want some ramen so I'll be off," the blonde said, knocking the Hokage out of his thoughts.

"_Well, least some things stay the same,_" he thought, before smiling.

"Okay Naruto, have a bowl for me!" he said before waving the boy off.

"Will do, later!" was the reply he got before Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"_I wish I could help you more Naruto, but I'm not allowed to show favouritism to ninja. I know you'll make it through. Now, if only I could say the same about this assassination... and the following paperwork,_" the old man thought, before heading back down to the compound where a Hyuuga representative was waiting for him to give the Hyuuga's side of the story.

* * *

As Naruto approached Ichiraku's, he could see that there were already two customers there. Recognizing them, the blonde walked over and sat next to the girl.

"Hey Shino, Hinata, what's up?" the blonde asked with his big goofy grin on his face.

"Hello Naruto, I see you are well," Shino replied.

"N-N-Naruto, hi! What are you d-doing here? Aren't you meant to be out on a mission?" the girl asked with her typical stutter as she swirled the ramen sitting in front of her.

"Don't worry! I've got it covered!" the blonde nearly yelled out.

"Ahhhh, Naruto! I expected I'd see you here, so I've just finished your usual order of ramen," Teuchi said with his typical smile as he gave the boy his ramen. "Don't worry, this one is on the house."

"Really!? Wow! Thank you!" the boy exclaimed.

"Shino, are you sure you don't want any?" Teuchi asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine currently," he replied with his usual tone.

"Alright then, can you three watch over the shop? I need to step away for a few minutes," Teuchi asked.

"Sure! We'd be happy to," Hinata answered.

"Alright, keep Naruto out of trouble! I'll be back shortly," Teuchi replied before he walked out back of the shop and off to one of the shops in town.

"Oh yeah, now time for some ramen!" the blonde exclaimed as he started to dig into his food.

"Naruto, drop the act already, having you yelling in my ear isn't exactly nice you know," Hinata said. Naruto raised his head and looked at her.

"Hey, I'll give you that my little act can get irritating at times, but it's ramen. And no matter how I act around everyone else, I really do love ramen. You know that," he said before going back to filling his mouth with the delicious food. Hinata sighed and Shino raised his left eyebrow a little bit, before lowering it again. His equivalent to a shrug.

"So I heard that our unknown assassin has struck the village again. The Hyiigar clan leader was the target. So what does his tally add up to now?" Naruto asked.

"His, or _her_ tally adds up to 14 in the last 3 months," Hinata replied, emphasizing the "her".

"Same info with each target. Killed quickly by unknown means. No poison has been found within the bodies of the victims, and there are no marks on the body to indicate how these people have died. Almost as though death itself came and took their lives while they were asleep. Some of the guards have been reported missing this time as well like the previous times. No remains or signs of fighting have been seen. It was almost like they never existed," Shino added.

"This assassin can definitely take out any target with ease it seems," Naruto said without much attention or care, the smell and taste of the ramen being far too much of an overpowering force upon his concentration. Hinata had a bit of ramen herself before moving on with the talk of the assassin.

"Rumors have been circulating wildly about these deaths. Suspicious range from the possible, to the crazy. There are a few such as it being ninja within our own ranks, a spy from another village, or some form of ANBU. Those being the possible ones." Hinata paused and sighed before continuing, the next few were rather crazy for rumors.

"The crazy ones consisting more along the lines of a secret training league for Kage level ninja hidden deep within the mountains with the purpose to take over key positions in the village, or a pair of demon sisters that have 3 heads, eyes made of metal, hands made out of tiger claws, and have bull legs trying to find peace by taking chakra from people... or even aliens bent on destroying the world by sucking out people's souls one by one."

"I like the one about aliens. Imagine, if they're so advanced, they could have created a supreme version of ramen!" Naruto quickly answered after Hinata finished speaking.

"Naruto, you might be smarter than you act, but when it comes to ramen, you're still an idiot," Hinata replied before sighing.

"Hey, what can I say? Ramen has to be the food of the gods. I've yet to eat anything that even slightly compares to the brilliant taste ramen provides," Naruto said with a big grin on his face before stuffing his face some more.

Before he could get too far, an ominous and deadly feeling passed through Naruto's entire being. It could only be a feeling described by the words "pure evil" as the sounds of a girl screaming Naruto's name could be heard throughout the entire area.

"HERE I FIND YOU EATING RAMEN WHEN YOU WERE MEANT TO BE ON A MISSION WITH US! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME AND SASUKE TO DO ALL THE WORK CLEARING OUT THAT GARDEN!" the pink haired girl screamed before smacking Naruto deep into the ground, through the stool he sat on. She stood there huffing over the hole she had just made as she waited for the poor boy to come up once more just so she could smack him back down deeper.

"S-s-s-s-ak-kura... t-t-hat was just m-mean!" Naruto replied weakly from within the hole. No way he was going up till Sakura was calmed down or had left. Girls could be so scary when they were angry, their strength defying nature itself.

"YEAH WELL SO WAS LEAVING A SHADOW CLONE (KAGE BUNSHIN) WITH US INSTEAD OF COMING YOURSELF! YOU HAVE SOME NERVE!" the girl continued to yell at the top of her voice, lighting surrounding her head as her eyes glowed a pure red evil. Shino and Hinata had at this point, picked the smart option to quietly slip away and hide behind a tree and observe from there.

"Well you shouldn't have dispelled the Shadow Clone (Kage Bunshin) then Sakura," Naruto shot back as he gazed up upon the face of _evil_. This line only served to anger her even more so then she previously had been. Before she could pulverize Naruto more, the boy quickly added to what he had just said.

"But look at it this way Sakura, you got to spend time with Sasuke by yourself while you tended to that garden!" Naruto smirked, he knew he had hit the sweet spot with that one.

"You're... right Naruto..." the girl replied before blushing and doing the girly giggle she did whenever she thought of the self-centered fool.

"You better be there for our next mission though Naruto or I will destroy you! You got that!?" the girl angrily asked.

"Y-y-es Sakura, of course! I'll be there! I promise!!" Naruto quickly replied. It was bad enough to cross Sakura once, but twice? That was just suicidal.

"Good! Now where did Sasuke go..." the girl finally finished before leaving. Naruto laid in the hole for a good minute before deciding it was safe enough to pull himself out of the hole. As Hinata and Shino returned from behind the tree, Naruto turned to face them.

"Well that was fun. I'd like to stay but I had better get going. If I'm going to be doing a mission in person, I need to go talk to old man Hokage to actually get something worth my time. Later you two," Naruto said before bursting into smoke and disappearing from sight.

"I wonder how he can put up with his team like that. The constant hitting and yelling from Sakura and the constant ego centric acting and posturing from Sasuke as well as the care-free nature from Kakashi as his team constantly butt horns while Naruto wears a mask. One that would have probably come true if he hadn't found out about the fox that day." Hinata said out loud.

"I think that is a mystery in itself." Shino replied before the two walked off for training with Kurenai.

* * *

As Naruto appeared in the Hokage's office, the old man was sitting at his table going through the notes of the assassinations as well as signing off on any documents that needed his signature. Seeing Naruto appear, the old man looked up and smiled.

"Naruto! What can I do for you my boy?" he asked happily, a break from paperwork was a break from hell.

"Old man, I have a request for you. Sakura's... aggressive nature has led her to find out that I myself haven't been there for these stupid and idiotic D-rank missions. As such, she now demands that I be there for the next one. Even if she is exceptionally weaker then I am, incurring the wraith of the female gender is not something I would call, intelligent."

"Haha! Ah yes I'm aware of such danger. I recall back when Tsunade smashed Jiraiya when the team was just formed. She had no super strength back then but was still able to send him flying through several trees! Sakura reminds me so much of her so I can understand your fear," the old man interrupted before laughing again after he finished.

"Yes well, as such I'm willing to do a mission just so she'll be off my back and so for once I can actually do something as a ninja. But I don't want another pathetic mission, I want something worth my time," he said plainly as he stared right into the old man's eyes.

"I was wondering how long it would take before you came to me about this. I have an A-Rank mission here for you from a bridge builder and his country." The old man passed Naruto the scroll with all the information on it before continuing on.

"Although it is classed as a C-Rank mission on there, a skilled ninja such as myself can see through simply deception and could easily tell he was lying. So I did a little digging and found out that a man named Gato is after this bridge builder's life. He can't afford an A-Rank mission though and thus he is lying to the village about it. I'm confident that you could handle this mission along with Kakashi after he most certainly figures it out. Sakura and Sasuke will be of little use but this will be a good experience for them none the less as long as they are protected," the old man finished.

"I understand, tomorrow we shall accept the mission then. I will put on an act about wanting something more challenging and you shall give us that mission." Naruto replied.

"Alright then, is that all Naruto?" the Hokage asked.

"Nah old man, by the way the ramen was brilliant, and I had about twenty bowls for me and five for you! But I can be a nice guy too, here old man, I saved you a bowl." Naruto said before pulling out a bowl of ramen seemingly from behind his back and placing it in front of the Hokage.

"Thank you Naruto, I was getting rather hungry," the old man said happily before having a mouthful.

"No problem old man, see ya!" Naruto said before waving a goodbye and disappearing into smoke once more.

"_Ah Naruto, you're still got a bit of a warm side to you, and I'm happy to see it. Please don't ever let it die,_" the old man thought to himself before going back to the hell that is paperwork along with the heaven that is ramen.

* * *

**A/N: **_Yo. This took longer then I expected. But you know, half yearly exams, being sick, having to work, playing Neverwinter Nights 2 and watching anime, going out on drives, etc etc etc will tend to divert your attention. But hey, it's up! So, no real action this time, but the mission to Wave is coming next chapter, we can run with it being mostly canon, but hey, it would be boring if it was all canon. So do not fear! We may have a bit of a twist or some fun stuff or something, we'll see what happens. Anyway, no idea when the next one will be up. I'm just no good at keeping a schedule, I admit it. But it will come in the coming weeks at least. My other fanfic has priority though, Metal of a Hedgehog hasn't been updated for longer so that needs my attention. Don't worry, both will be updated and will continue to be updated! I just can't give you an **exact** time. Anywho, reviews would be welcome! I love feedback = ). Till next time._


	3. 3: Demon's Torment

_**Demon's Torment**_

The sun was setting as the young boy and young girl sat near the edge of the village. Obscured by trees, the two sat there, talking to each other. One shaking. One calm.

"You say you saw a demon?" the boy with the glasses and high collar asked.

"Y-Y-Yes... I did... but..." the light-eyed, lavender haired girl shakily replied.

"What's wrong?" the boy asked.

"T-This was no ordinary demon... this was... N-Naruto," the girl replied filled with sadness.

"Could it be? Naruto, could he be the container for the Kyuubi?" the boy wondered out loud.

"Maybe... but w-where does... where does that l-leave him?" the girl asked, tears in her eyes now at the thought of the possibilities.

"Either as a puppet for the demon, or the jailor of it. Either way, the Kyuubi is a part of him," the boy calmly answered. To those who didn't know him, he would sound indifferent. But for those who knew him, the sadness in his voice could be easily heard.

"Naruto... why do you have to carry such a tragic burden. You of all people don't deserve such a fate..." the girl quietly said to herself as she began to break into tears at the thoughts of her friend, and the demon Kyuubi.

* * *

"So, I hear the "last" Uchiha, Sasuke is heading to the Land of Waves for a mission along with the container of Kyuubi, Naruto Uzumaki. Now might be the best time to deal with both of them," one shady figure said to the group around him.

"Perhaps, but Kakashi Hatake is with them as their Jounin sensei. Better known as the "Copy-Cat ninja". A very powerful Jounin sensei that you wouldn't want to cross," replied another figure. This one rather tall and bone like as he sat in the dark water chamber that had been set up around them.

"But he relies on the Sharingan. Although it's meant to be able to see all jutsu and copy it instantly, I'm sure that we can handle it," another voice echoed. This one much more feminine, but fierce with confidence.

"Possibly, but can the rest of the jutsu he knows be dealt with as well?" asked the first shady figure, a giant round blob to all who could not see him.

"We feel confident that our assassin can deal with Kakashi and Naruto before bringing Sasuke back to us," the woman's voice once again echoed in the dark water chamber.

"But what if the assassin fails? Interrogation would lead to us all being discovered and executed. We're treading on fire here and we could all get quite easily burned," replied the small scaly man with a voice that just hinted at the psychopath that lay within.

The blob of a man once again began to spoke. "Yes well but-"

The room shook, the water splashed around those within with both elegant beauty, but with the temper only those of true sailors knew well. For a few seconds, those within trembled with fear and awe, before a voice started to speak. A voice as heavenly and beautiful as it was deadly and evil.

"-But nothing! I will deal with them easily. None can escape my jutsu, and even the famous Sharingan will fall before me, just like with the Uchiha's older brother. Except this time, the owner of the Sharingan will fall as well."

All that could be heard after that was laughter, hideous and horrible laughter.

* * *

"Where's Kakashi-sensei? Isn't he here yet!?" the blonde exclaimed as he just arrived at the front gate to Konoha.

"Who knows, he's always late! Do you really expect me to know where he is you idiot!?" replied the pink haired girl angrily, annoyed that Naruto had interrupted her fawning over the self-obsessed emo. Said emo could only turn away from the sight and grunt in response.

"You idiot Naruto! Now look at what you did! You pissed Sasuke off, nice job you loser!" She waved her fist angrily at Naruto with a face that could only be seen as "_You make another wrong move, and you are DEAD_".

Naruto quickly saw a chance to annoy the girl even more and took it in a heartbeat.

"You know Sakura, Sasuke doesn't _like_ you at all. You defend him like his personal guard and all he can do is turn his back to you and grunt. If I had to guess, I'd say he's probably gay!"

That, was a comment that hit a rather big nerve, or rather two. Sasuke and Sakura both looked at the blonde with looks that said that the blonde's blood was the menu for lunch today, tomorrow, and for the rest of his life, which wasn't going to last much longer. They ran at him with ninja speed, fists drawn, ready to punch Naruto's lights out when a puff of smoke appeared in front of Naruto. In a exceptional show of speed, Kakashi appeared and threw both charging ninja into the ground in a blink of an eye.

"Kakashi-sensei! Where have you been!?" yelled the ever loud Naruto.

"Naruto, shut up! You are so dead," Sakura said with a voice that promised death as she slowly raised herself off the ground along with Sasuke who had a dirty angry face with eyes that glared right at Naruto.

"Quiet Sakura!" Kakashi commanded.

"But Kakashi-sensei-!" whined the pink haired girl.

"I don't want to hear it Sakura! No buts. And Naruto, you shouldn't start fights with your own team!" Kakashi yelled.

All three genin looked like they wanted to continue the argument, but they knew better than to argue with Kakashi about this. It was at this point a man walked up to the four ninja with a rather unpleased look resting upon his face.

"I asked for ninja to protect me! Not three lame kids. This must be the most dysfunctional team of ninja's in existence! The blonde kid looks like he wouldn't know his left hand from his right, the girl looks like she'd do absolutely anything if this emo kid said so, and he looks like he's ready to jump on any guy that walks past! I think booze would do a better job of protecting me than these three."

Sakura and Sasuke instantly directed their death glares at the man while Naruto looked completely unfazed by the insults.

"I assure you, these three are more than capable of defending you on a C-rank mission, and I am their Jounin sensei. I should more than enough for any thugs should we get attacked." Kakashi calmly told the old man. Unfortunately the old man did not look convinced.

"Just who are you old man?" asked Sakura.

"My name is Tazuna. I am the bridge builder you are to protect. Although I don't expect results from you three kids, only your sensei. Now we've wasted enough time here. Let's get moving!"

As Tazuna walked through the gate, Kakashi followed along with Sasuke and Sakura chasing behind. Naruto remained for a few moments, unable to shake a feeling that something big was about to begin.

"Naruto you loser! Hurry up!" yelled Sakura.

"Coming!" Naruto yelled back before catching up to the group and starting the journey to the Land of Waves.

* * *

Two people laid in wait for their target. One wore a mask proving that he was a hunter ninja while the other hefted a huge sword like it was nothing when most people would be lucky to lift it off the ground. Both were hiding up in the trees, waiting for the prey to come by. They had received word that two other ninja's sent to take them out had met resistance from a ninja squad and ultimately, failed in their task. Now, the task had fallen to them. They would not fail.

However, something seemed off. It was a perfect setting to ambush the target and the ninja that guarded him, but it was also a perfect setting to get ambushed if one wasn't careful enough. Usually this wasn't a problem, but instinct was currently reinforcing this feeling. Nagging, eating away, and saying that something was wrong and that they should get away, _now_. And a truly honed instinct was almost never wrong about such things. But they were better then this, such a strong force. The test of a true ninja is to acknowledge the instinct and act on it when required, but not at the expense of the mission, and thus have the ability to ignore instinct when a ninja has to.

"Haku, go and scout the area. I've got a feeling that we're being watched at the moment. Stay hidden as best you can and use as little chakra as possible. I will deal with our little spy."

"Yes Zabuza," replied the masked Haku before disappearing into smoke leaving no trace that he had ever been there.

"You think I will spare the boy Zabuza?" an ominous voice spoke, seemingly from all around. Zabuza simply smirked before tilting his head till it gave a satisfying crack.

"You think I will spare you and your pathetic life?" Zabuza replied back, smirking all the while.

"I know who you are Zabuza. I know all about your life, the torture and death of your parents in front of your eyes. I know about how alone you were. I know about the final test of the academy where you were twisted into killing the only girl who ever cared for you and who you truly loved. I know it all, nothing is hidden from me Zabuza!" spoke the voice.

Zabuza hesitated, and felt something he never thought he'd feel again. _Fear_. The fear of being alone, the fear of death. He hadn't hesitated since that day at the academy, and ever since then had never feared anything. But yet, now he may as well have been back at the academy, fearing for his life as he killed the other genin at the academy.

"You will die Zabuza. I will make you relive all that you have lost. Make you see what you are. Over and over, you will relive that fear, those memories. And when you have finally broken, begging for death, I will grant you the peace you will so desire. A slow, painful, death."

Zabuza stood there, stunned. How could a person inspire such feelings in him of all people!? One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist! It was unthinkable!

"Just who the hell are you!?" yelled Zabuza.

"I am beauty, I am death. I pass judgment on all who get in my way, and none escape my grasp. I am as calm as waves on a beach, as deadly as a tsunami. I am the queen of the seas, the ruler of the waters. The one who shall give you your last moments of life. I am Suzuki! Mistress of the Seas!"

Her voice sounded ethereal, almost hypnotizing and irresistibly beautiful. The type of voice a god might possess. Yet it had an underlying evil to it. It reminded Zabuza of the old tales of the siren of the seas. Sailors would hear beautiful singing and be drawn to it. They would follow the singing, even if it meant a ship becoming nothing more than a wreck upon the rocks somewhere. Eventually they would find an apparently beautiful woman singing the song. They would be lured closer, and closer, until the siren killed the sailors.

Zabuza collected himself. He had been shaken before with her talk, but now it was different. He was composed, and back to the devil he really was. He would not end up the same way as those sailors if he had anything to do with it.

"Come out you siren! Come and face me, and I'll introduce you to true terror!" shouted Zabuza, once again smiling with a sinister and near inhuman glee behind his mask.

"A siren am I? Perhaps that is quite an apt description," she spoke calmly.

Water rushed up from the ground, fell from the sky, till enough of it had surrounded Zabuza in an air tight ball. The speed was exceptional! It was almost like it had happened in a split second, nearly too fast for Zabuza to even have comprehended! He pulled out his sword and started to swing furiously at the water, trying to clear a path through it so he could escape and fight. No matter how much he swung though, the water simply reformed as fast as it had appeared.

Then the voice was heard yet again. "If that's the case then it's time for your song to end!" the woman screeched, truly an evil voice. Then the water moved in closer and closer, until he was covered in the water, getting squeezed to death. Everything became blurred, and Zabuza's world went black.

* * *

**A/N:** _Been awhile hasn't it? Sorry everyone, I was really bogged down with school, specifically my HSC trials, not to mention some other things. I've still got my HSC to go yet. This does mean, I'm sorry to say, that I probably won't update again for another month or two at least. I know, it's definitely not cool when a story doesn't get regular updates, but I hope it's understandable as to why I'm being rather slow. Least I haven't stopped though! And I have no intention to. Anyway, past that I'd like to point out right now that Suzaki's name doesn't have some special meaning behind it, so don't go looking for one. I just think it's a good name, hence why I'm using it. Anywho, looks like things are starting to heat up. Stay tuned!_


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